Augusta booming despite tough economy (college, income, quality of life)

[lilmusket]

If you look at just Richmond County's numbers, those are above the Natl and state average.. Metro Augusta's numbers are lower because of Columbia County, whcih has the lowest unemployment rate in the area. But the point that was made is that Augusta has not lost jobs.. and that is false. Augusta, along with most other places in this country, has lost thousands of jobs from the previous year.

[nortonguy]

Why everytime something postive is happening in Augusta. The same three lilmusket, Mono, and G-Man. Start with the nonsense and get off topic. This is a Augusta forum. If you post a positive article about Augusta. All three start every time.

[motonenterprises]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

Why everytime something postive is happening in Augusta. The same three Hillguy, Mono, and G-Man. Start with the nonsense and get off topic. This is a Augusta forum.

To keep things in perspective. If you're running a race by yourself you will think you are doing better than you are. You have to compare Augusta to its peers to really understand where it is in relevancy. That being that its not performing at the level its peers. Look at the GDP. Thats tells how much money is flowing through the area.

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by lilmusket

If you look at just Richmond County's numbers, those are above the Natl and state average.. Metro Augusta's numbers are lower because of Columbia County, whcih has the lowest unemployment rate in the area. But the point that was made is that Augusta has not lost jobs.. and that is false. Augusta, along with most other places in this country, has lost thousands of jobs from the previous year.

False again lilmusket? I know you love to be negative. But facts are facts. Why do you love to hate on Augusta? Richmond county unemployment is below the state and national avg. The state dpt compares metro vs metro.

April’s unemployment rates for the Georgia counties that make up the metro area:

Richmond County: A rate of 8.7 percent, down from 9.4 percent in March.

Columbia County: A rate of 5.9 percent, down from 6.6 percent in March.

Burke County: A rate of 10.3 percent, down from 12.3 percent in March.

McDuffie County: A rate of 9.3 percent, down from 9.9 percent in March.

[lilmusket]

Its not being negative to be truthful... Nearly EVERY city in America HAS lost jobs from last year. Augusta's unemployement rate from this April is still higher then it was from April of Last year.. It still has a net job loss from last year.. not a net job gain. This is not unique to Augusta, but is happening all over the country. I will not go into the basics of statistics, since you seem not to grasp them.. others on here have tried to explain to you the difference of growth rates and absolute numbers, and what net growth and net loss means. You made a statement that was false.. that Augusta has not lost jobs.. the fact that the unemployement rate is higher today than it was a year ago proves otherwise.

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by motonenterprises

To keep things in perspective. If you're running a race by yourself you will think you are doing better than you are. You have to compare Augusta to its peers to really understand where it is in relevancy. That being that its not performing at the level its peers. Look at the GDP. Thats tells how much money is flowing through the area.

Augusta is a city in Georgia not South Carolina. When you compare GDP by metro's in GA. Augusta metro is the second highest in GA.

[The Magician]

I don't care about Augusta vs. Greenville. Some of you are as ignorant as rappers who fight over which coast is better. If I moved to Atlanta and started dissing Greenville what would that prove? Oh, Greenville doesn't have a skyline better than buckhead or even a skyline better than Atlantic station. Or, isn't Atlantic station and Greenville the same size. Howabout, we have teams that play in the four major sports and you have none. Also, we've hosted the Olympics, men's final four, and the SuperBowl. What has Greenville hosted outside of the NCAA's second round? And of course Atlanta can top whatever it is. I've deduced that the reason you and others trash Augusta is because, since the consolidation, we have a population 3x the city of Greenville. Before the city and county consolidated Augusta was on the right track. The citizens of Augusta was duped by the crooked politicians. We were told that everything would run smoother and be cheaper. So everyone agreed. Since the consolidation there has been non-stop bickering, back-biting, etc. The race card has been pulled so many times that it's not even funny. We can't solve our own problems so we look to Atlanta, i.e. the Entertainment Authority or whatever their name is. It's not the citizens of Augusta impeding the progress of the city. It's the government. We give them marching orders and they find a way to goof it up. We told them to build the TEE, they didn't. Now, the new splost may be dead. Hopefully, they'll take the money collected for the TEE and build us a Zoo or a new arena.

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by lilmusket

Its not being negative to be truthful... Nearly EVERY city in America HAS lost jobs from last year. Augusta's unemployement rate from this April is still higher then it was from April of Last year.. It still has a net job loss from last year.. not a net job gain. This is not unique to Augusta, but is happening all over the country. I will not go into the basics of statistics, since you seem not to grasp them.. others on here have tried to explain to you the difference of growth rates and absolute numbers, and what net growth and net loss means. You made a statement that was false.. that Augusta has not lost jobs.. the fact that the unemployement rate is higher today than it was a year ago proves otherwise.

Can you show me some facts. Instead of another long post. I provided articles. Can you provide one?

Your exact words not mine. Richmond county unemployment is above the national and state avg. Which is absolutely false. Richmond county and Metro Augusta are under the national and state average.


But back to the OP. Augusta is doing very well. 9 million dollars in sales tax in one month.

[The Magician]

Ya'll have posted a lot since I've been gone. What I'm going to say is harsh about my city. Augusta has jobs because we have a workforce that isn't highly educated. Most of the companies that laid off were John Deere, Castleberry's, Club Car, and E-Z Go. Those were jobs that only required you to have a GED and maybe some technical education. Most can't get a job at the VA, MCG, University Hospital, Wachovia, SRS, etc. IMO, we have a lot of hospitals and outpatient centers here. If you have a degree in Nursing, Sociology, etc; You can find a job here quickly.

[motonenterprises]

Again, what is Augusta's GDP? Answer this and compare it to other metros. It doesn't matter how your population is digested, consolidated or not. If your GDP is lower than another msa then that particular msa has a better economical climate. And for Magic, if Greenville County consolidated it would be at 430,000+ but the GDP doesn't change and tells you how well your economy is doing. That was an ignorant statement.